ACLU Groups Sue U.S. Government Over Travel Ban

Protesters rally at the Portland Jetport in January against President Trump's travel ban.

Maine Public/file

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ACLU Groups Sue U.S. Government Over Travel Ban

PORTLAND, Maine - The American Civil Liberties Union of Maine, along with five other New England ACLU affiliates, has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Homeland Security and U.S. Customs and Border Protection over President Trump's Muslim travel bans.

The ACLU is demanding documentation about the way U.S. Customs and Border Protection instructed local officials to implement President Trump's January 2017 travel ban.

ACLU of Maine legal director Zachary Heiden describes the rollout as "chaotic - people were stranded at airports, or even other countries, trying to travel to the United States."

Heiden says the lawsuit was filed after CBP failed to respond to Freedom of Information Act requests back in February.

"We want to see that information; we want to know what guidance the Customs and Border Protection offices across the country, received from Washington, D.C.," he says.

The lawsuits by the New England ACLUs are among 13 across the country, all looking for specific information about local airports and ports of entry. Heiden says the executive orders have been a "thinly-veiled attempt to keep Muslims out of the country," and he says the public deserves to know how they are being carried out.